Jean Harris
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Jean Harris (born Jean Struven in Cleveland, Ohio on April 27, 1923) was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia who made national news in 1980 as the defendant in a high-profile murder case of her ex-lover Dr. Herman Tarnower, a well-known cardiologist and author of the best-selling book The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.
Jean Harris attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she graduated magna cum laude in May 1945 as an economics major. She subsequently married and had two sons.
Life with Tarnower
Harris met Tarnower, a respected cardiologist (later known as the famous Scarsdale Diet Doctor), in 1965, about two years after her divorce. They then began a 14-year relationship. While Tarnower showered the cultivated Jean with gifts and exotic vacations, he also fancied himself as much a ladies' man as he was a doctor, and began other affairs during this period.
Harris juggled the immense professional responsibility as a headmistress of the Madeira School with the growing emotional manipulation of her lover/partner. Tarnower was known to flash another lover callously in front of Harris, while at the same time exploiting Harris' delicate emotional state. In fact, Tarnower prescriped Harris multiple medications over the years.
Tarnower ultimately hired a petite younger woman named Lynne Tryforos to work as a secretary-receptionist at the Scarsdale Medical Center, and they began a casual affair which lasted several years. It became clear that, Harris was in the process of being replaced by the younger woman (20 years Harris' junior).
Events of March 10, 1980
As Madeira students were preparing to leave for spring break, some staged a "sit-in" protest denouncing the educators and headmistress of Madeira. Jean Harris, a woman whose pride in life was being an educator, someone who could mold the minds of young women, was deeply troubled by the actions of "her girls." That emotional stress, together with mounting arguments with her lover and partner of 14 years and the sudden change in her medication (as prescribed by that same lover), brought her to an emotional boiling point. The evening of March 9, 1980, Madeira faculty members noted she seemed despondent and distant.
On March 10, 1980 Jean drove from the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia to Tarnower's home in Purchase, New York, with a handgun in her possession. She later said she had planned to commit suicide after talking in person with Tarnower one last time. When she arrived at the house, however, she noticed Lynne Tryforos' lingerie in the bedroom. An argument ensued, and Herman Tarnower allegedly said to her, "Jesus, Jean, you're crazy! Get out of here!" Harris shot Tarnower four times at close range, wounding him mortally. She was arrested and booked for second-degree murder. She pled not guilty, insisting that the shooting was an accident and that the gun had gone off accidentally while he tried to wrestle it away from her.
Legal defense and trial
Harris was released on $40,000 bail raised by her brother and sisters and signed into the United Hospital of Port Chester for psychiatric evaluation and therapy. She then contracted the services of attorney Joel Aurnou to plan her defense.
The case went to trial on November 21, 1980, and lasted 14 weeks, becoming one of the longest in state history. The New York press sensationalized the trial and made Harris a household name from coast to coast. The case brought to the forefront real class tension in American society, as many resentfully saw Jean as representative of a privileged elite class at the exclusive all-girls Madeira School.
The jury was troubled as Harris showed little emotion throughout the trial, remaining stoic and cold. Supporters claimed that Harris was remaining as strong as she possibly could, rather than play emotions for the jury's benefit. The jury was ultimately unable to believe her testimony and convicted her of second-degree murder.
Many legal experts[who?] wondered why Harris did not put forth a defense of "extreme emotional disturbance," which could have resulted in a manslaughter conviction and a much shorter jail term. Harris has always maintained, however, that she had not intentionally killed Tarnower. Joel Aurnou would later state that he encouraged his client to consider other options, but she refused them. Judge Russell R. Leggett ordered her confined to the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, New York, for the minimum of 15 years to life. Numerous appeals followed the conviction, but the higher courts determined that she had received a fair trial.
Harris’ defense lawyer, Joel Aurnou, was heavily criticised for not sufficiently preparing his client for the trial.[citation needed] The jury was not offered the option of first-degree manslaughter—the mercy option—and the mental health professionals who tested and treated Harris were not called to testify.
Ever the leader in education, while serving her sentence, Harris revoluntionized the education of female inmates. She began programs where women could work towards obtaining their GEDs or even college degrees while imprisoned. She also devoted herself to enhancing the lives of the children of female inmates. Harris taught a parenting class to inmates and developed the nursery provided for babies born to inmates.
Eleven years after Harris' conviction ,[1] Governor Mario Cuomo pardoned her on December 29, 1992, as she was being prepped for quadruple bypass heart surgery. She was released from prison and initially planned to live in a cabin in New Hampshire, but has since had to resign herself to a higher care of living. She currently lives at the Whitney Center, a retirement home in Hamden, Connecticut.
Following her release, Harris has visited Tarnower's grave multiple times. However, she has refused the spotlight on multiple occasions, wary that any fame (or infamy as the case may be) will bring discredit to her much beloved school, the Madeira School.
Literary and cinematic treatments/references
Harris' story was told by Diana Trilling in the 1982 book Mrs. Harris and by the journalist Shana Alexander in the 1983 book Very Much a Lady: The Untold Story of Jean Harris and Dr. Herman Tarnower.
Harris' murder trial was depicted in the 1981 made-for-television movie, "The People vs. Jean Harris". She was portrayed by Ellen Burstyn, who was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the performance. Burstyn would later be nominated for another Emmy Award for a cameo role as one of Tarnower's former lovers in Mrs. Harris.
In 2006, HBO films produced Mrs. Harris depicting Jean Harris's relationship with Herman Tarnower from beginning to end, as well as the trial. The film starred Annette Bening, with Ben Kingsley opposite her as Herman Tarnower. Both Bening and Kingsley received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the film.
The Scarsdale diet doctor murder is referred to on the sitcom Seinfeld as the basis for the fictional musical "Scarsdale Surprise" which Kramer accidentally received Tony Award for.[citation needed]
Harris and Tarnower are referred to in Christine Lavin's song "Cold Pizza for Breakfast".[2]
References
General
- Harris' bio at The Biography Channel
Notes
- ^ http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/harris/14.html The Jean Harris Case], TruTV Crime Library website, accessed November 24, 2008
- ^ http://www.christinelavin.com/index.php?page=songs&category=The_Bellevue_Years&display=136
Further reading
- Trilling, Diana . Mrs Harris. New York: Viking, December 1982. ISBN 0-14-006363-3
- Alexander, Shana. Very Much a Lady: The Untold Story of Jean Harris and Dr. Herman Tarnower. New York: Little Brown & Co, 1983. ISBN 0-316-03125-9
- Harris, Jean. Stranger in Two Worlds. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1986.